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Tips for Learning Openings

#1

Hello Lichess legends,

Just wondering what your opinions are for best ways of learning openings?

I find I am quite busy most of the year but get a lot of holidays each year so have time to dedicate to learning openings. Any general tips or specific books that have helped you?

What have you found works for you? Obviously everyone is different but its always useful to understand different ways of learning.

Cheers in advance!

Hello Lichess legends, Just wondering what your opinions are for best ways of learning openings? I find I am quite busy most of the year but get a lot of holidays each year so have time to dedicate to learning openings. Any general tips or specific books that have helped you? What have you found works for you? Obviously everyone is different but its always useful to understand different ways of learning. Cheers in advance!
#2

IMO best is step 1: playing over many GM full games with the opening and recording positions and moves that you didn't see. step 2: After a bunch of these, get an opening book and start playing thru more GM games and annotating them yourself from memory [recall practice] then looking up the 'book' line and adding it. step 3: find the key positions/ structures you like & are aiming for and try to reverse from there and figure out how to maximize your chance to get there. .... All while this study is happening you play it and analyze your games. -bill

IMO best is step 1: playing over many GM full games with the opening and recording positions and moves that you didn't see. step 2: After a bunch of these, get an opening book and start playing thru more GM games and annotating them yourself from memory [recall practice] then looking up the 'book' line and adding it. step 3: find the key positions/ structures you like & are aiming for and try to reverse from there and figure out how to maximize your chance to get there. .... All while this study is happening you play it and analyze your games. -bill
#3

You need an opening trainer. Best one is chesstempo mobile app.

You need an opening trainer. Best one is chesstempo mobile app.
#4

I made an opening study by utilizing the Lichess database. I would look at these things usually:
"What moves are the common responses?"
"What move is the best response?"
"What does this move want to achieve?"
"What does this move do to the structure?"

I made an opening study by utilizing the Lichess database. I would look at these things usually: "What moves are the common responses?" "What move is the best response?" "What does this move want to achieve?" "What does this move do to the structure?"
#5

There's some good advice from Kostya Kavutskiy on the Chess Dojo youtube channel. They use FIDE ratings, so this one is probably the relevant one for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HDQpkH-ShE

The basic advice is not to sweat "learning openings" too much beyond maybe watching some ten minute intro video (I really like the Gotham Chess "five minute openings" series, FWIW). Instead, try to understand opening principles by looking at the games in books like Logical Chess Move By Move (or my recommendation, A First Book Of Morphy) where the annotations include explanations of the reasoning behind the opening moves, and by analyzing your own games and looking for places in the opening where you've not really followed the principles so well and caused yourself problems.

Even once it gets a bit deeper, in the 1200-1800 video, I think he still recommends mostly learning by studying GM games to understanding the common middlegame ideas and only worrying about actually learning "theory" when you get to positions in your games where you're not sure that you're doing the right thing.

There's some good advice from Kostya Kavutskiy on the Chess Dojo youtube channel. They use FIDE ratings, so this one is probably the relevant one for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HDQpkH-ShE The basic advice is not to sweat "learning openings" too much beyond maybe watching some ten minute intro video (I really like the Gotham Chess "five minute openings" series, FWIW). Instead, try to understand opening principles by looking at the games in books like Logical Chess Move By Move (or my recommendation, A First Book Of Morphy) where the annotations include explanations of the reasoning behind the opening moves, and by analyzing your own games and looking for places in the opening where you've not really followed the principles so well and caused yourself problems. Even once it gets a bit deeper, in the 1200-1800 video, I think he still recommends mostly learning by studying GM games to understanding the common middlegame ideas and only worrying about actually learning "theory" when you get to positions in your games where you're not sure that you're doing the right thing.
#6

Daniel Naroditsky has a really nice series where he plays different openings and takes you through his thought process. He also tells why he rejects certain ideas and explains the structures in a way that makes sense. I recommend watch his playing an opening that you like.
There are also many opening studies on lichess. You can find them under the "learn" section. Find a study that you like and look through it to see commonly recurring themes and structures.

Daniel Naroditsky has a really nice series where he plays different openings and takes you through his thought process. He also tells why he rejects certain ideas and explains the structures in a way that makes sense. I recommend watch his playing an opening that you like. There are also many opening studies on lichess. You can find them under the "learn" section. Find a study that you like and look through it to see commonly recurring themes and structures.
#7

At a lower rank, one can learn an opening system--like the London. You'll play the same moves no matter what black does. It's solid at the lower levels. Then you can use all the time you saved on memorizing openings on tactic puzzles which will increase your rank fasrter.

At a lower rank, one can learn an opening system--like the London. You'll play the same moves no matter what black does. It's solid at the lower levels. Then you can use all the time you saved on memorizing openings on tactic puzzles which will increase your rank fasrter.
#8

Hi little buddy,

" best ways of learning openings?"
repeat, repeat, repeat

"I find I am quite busy most of the year but get a lot of holidays each year so have time to dedicate to learning openings. Any general tips or specific books that have helped you?"

Play a simple opening. Don't study openings. At your rating and also mine it's not worth it.

Hi little buddy, " best ways of learning openings?" repeat, repeat, repeat "I find I am quite busy most of the year but get a lot of holidays each year so have time to dedicate to learning openings. Any general tips or specific books that have helped you?" Play a simple opening. Don't study openings. At your rating and also mine it's not worth it.
#9

I think that this quote gives the basic idea for learning about a specific opening:
"... The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)
In a nutshell, pick up what you can from quickly playing over some games (skipping a lot of the details). Then use your own games as a guide for where to learn more. I once wasted a lot of time, reading about the position after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 e3 e6 7 Bxc4 Bb4 8 O-O O-O 9 Qe2, only to realize (eventually) that the position never arose in any of my games.
Here are some more quotes on learning about openings:
"... For beginning players, [the book, Discovering Chess Openings by GM Emms,] will offer an opportunity to start out on the right foot and really get a feel for what is happening on the board. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Chess-Openings-Building-Principles/dp/1857444191?asin=1857444191&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1
"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... Read many annotated game collections ... By looking at entire games, the aspiring player learns about openings, middlegames, and endgames all at one fell swoop. Playing through annotated games spurs improvement as the reader learns how good players consistently handle common positions and problems. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf
"... As is the wont with modern opening works, these books usually centre their recommended variations around an instructive and/or entertaining game, without great depth but with sufficient detail to show the main branches and explain basic ideas. This is absolutely legitimate ..." - IM John Watson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627015516/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen163.pdf
"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf

I think that this quote gives the basic idea for learning about a specific opening: "... The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2005) In a nutshell, pick up what you can from quickly playing over some games (skipping a lot of the details). Then use your own games as a guide for where to learn more. I once wasted a lot of time, reading about the position after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 e3 e6 7 Bxc4 Bb4 8 O-O O-O 9 Qe2, only to realize (eventually) that the position never arose in any of my games. Here are some more quotes on learning about openings: "... For beginning players, [the book, Discovering Chess Openings by GM Emms,] will offer an opportunity to start out on the right foot and really get a feel for what is happening on the board. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2006) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Chess-Openings-Building-Principles/dp/1857444191?asin=1857444191&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1 "... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008) "... Read many annotated game collections ... By looking at entire games, the aspiring player learns about openings, middlegames, and endgames all at one fell swoop. Playing through annotated games spurs improvement as the reader learns how good players consistently handle common positions and problems. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf "... As is the wont with modern opening works, these books usually centre their recommended variations around an instructive and/or entertaining game, without great depth but with sufficient detail to show the main branches and explain basic ideas. This is absolutely legitimate ..." - IM John Watson (2012) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627015516/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen163.pdf "... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf

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